Curbing EU migrant access to welfare red line in EU talks : Cameron

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday restricting European Union migrant access to Britain's welfare system would be an "absolute requirement" when he renegotiates his country's ties with the bloc.

"I and many others believe it is right for us to reduce the incentives for people who want to come here. Changes to welfare to cut EU migration will be an absolute requirement in my renegotiation," Cameron told an audience in London.

Cameron was speaking before flying to an EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Latvia, his first foreign trip since his re-election on May 7. He wants to use the summit to tentatively start renegotiating Britain's ties with the bloc ahead of a planned in-out EU membership referendum.